mold

1. The rectangular wooden frame over which the
brass wires or a wire cloth is stretched and
through which water drains away from the pulp
fibers in the formation of a sheet of handmade
paper. See also: DECKLE (2) . 2. A
packet of leaves of gold interleaved into 1,000
goldbeater's skins, each 5 inches square. The mold
stage of goldbeating is the final and most
exacting of the three stages of beating. See: GOLD LEAF . 3. In
printing, a device in two parts used for casting
movable type. 4. A multi-cellular, microscopic
vegetable plant which forms cobweblike masses of
branching threads from the surface of which tiny
fertile threads project into the air bearing the
part of the plant from which spores develop. Mold
may be of brilliant colors or black and white,
depending on the type. Molds can develop on
leather, cloth, paper, etc., especially in the
presence of relatively high heat and relative
humidity. See also: FUNGI ; MILDEW . (29 , 198 )